Dance With the Devil Tonight
by BrandiFlakes
Summary: Post-Dark Knight
1. Masquerades and Murders

Dance With the Devil Tonight

Title Credit Goes to Breaking Benjamin- Dance With The Devil

Disclaimer: I don't own the Joker or Batman-or the Batman franchise for that matter. I wish I did, but alas I don't. Emily's mine though.

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><p>The party was starting to get boring. In front of me couples were turning and spinning in time to the music. People were wearing either party gowns, or tuxedo's, but everyone was wearing some sort of masquerade mask.<p>

I was no exception.

Sitting in a chair in the corner I had already had too many flutes of champagne, and was eager to get home. A weariness was taking over my senses; people in Gotham still hadn't realized that throwing either fundraisers or parties was an invitation, to whichever villain was terrorizing the city, to come crash it.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw my boss talking to a woman in a purple gown. An irritated feeling overtook the weariness. It was because of my boss that I was here in the first place.

Arkham Asylum was asked to be present to this fundraiser and my boss asked me to accompany him to it.

_It's not like I had anything else to do on a Saturday night._ I thought to myself, as I downed another flute angrily.

My mind skipped over to the recent break out of the Joker. Everyone at the Asylum was working overtime because of him. For the past 2 weeks I had been trying to reassure my patients that he would be caught, for they feared he would kill their family members.

The irritation grew stronger as I thought about the clown.

As another waiter walked by with more champagne I shot up and grabbed one, quickly downing this one too, before the waiter could walk away I grabbed another one.

From beside me I heard a deep chuckle. I glanced over at the cause of the chuckle. A tall man wearing a purple suit was standing there. His mask was full faced and was black and white. His dark brown eyes latched onto my green ones.

"Eager to get _drunk_, are we?" The man standing beside me asked.

A scowl set upon my face as I answered him, "Yes. I **hate** parties."

The eyes behind the black and white mask crinkled, indicating that he was smiling.

"Well, _I_ hate them too. But you don't see _me_ getting drunk, now do you?" Before I could retort he interrupted me, "Would _you_, uh, like to _dance_?"

After thinking his offer over I slowly extended my hand towards him, he grabbed it with his purple, leather clad hand, and led me out to the dance floor. We danced in silence for a couple of songs until we started to talk.

"So what's, ah, your _name _Love?" He asked me.

"Emily. What's yours?" I told him, looking up into his cold, dark eyes. For a second he looked thoughtful, like he was deciding what to tell me.

"Jack." He swiftly answered.

We danced in silence again for another couple of songs, before he started talking again.

"So, _what _do you think of the, ah, _Joker_?" Thoughtfully I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know. Honestly he doesn't _seem_ insane or crazy, just a little…. angry? But I never have gotten a chance to meet him." The masked man in front of me seemed to think this was an acceptable answer.

"Who are you here with tonight?" He curiously asked.

Quickly another scowl set upon my lips.

"My boss." I all but growled. Another chuckled escaped from the masked man.

"I take it you don't, um, _like_ your boss, Love?" The next few musical numbers passed, with Jack and me talking.

I was starting to enjoy my time; Jack was smart, funny, and a flirt. But sadly enough at the ending of the song we were dancing to, he let me go.

"Well Love, this has been, ah, _fun_, and I would just _love _to spend the rest of the night with you, but I, uh, have a _job_ to complete." The masked man's dark eyes stayed locked on mine as he walked backwards, off the dance floor.

Slowly he pulled a hand gun out of the pocket of his coat, pointed it at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger. Screams echoed around me as people started running, ducking, and hiding. Slowly the masked man pulled off his mask. Underneath was the painted face of the Joker.

From all the entry and exit ways arrived the Joker's henchmen, clad in their clown masks, carrying automatic firearms.

A wicked smile erupted onto the Joker's scarred face as he pointed his gun at a young woman standing just a little to my left, but a few feet in front of me. Before he could pull the trigger though, the wall of windows imploded. Everyone's attention was turned towards the black mass jumping into the room.

The Joker's unmistakable laugh brought everyone's attention back to him. His cackling laugh continued as he shot the woman between the eyes.

Screams erupted again around me as I stood frozen in the middle of the dance floor, the dead woman's blood splattering all over me.

Soon Batman and the Joker were fighting, each one trying to gain the upper hand. All around me the party goers were running for the exits, only to be taken down by the clowns.

Suddenly a knife appeared in the Joker's hand. With a quick jab the Joker impaled Batman in the side, causing the caped crusader to fall to his knees.

Still transfixed with this quick change of events I watched as the Joker repeatedly kick Batman in every available spot. Soon the only people that were standing were the Joker, the 20 or so henchmen, and me. Sirens sounded in the distance.

With one last kick to the now motionless Batman, the Joker rounded on me.

"Why so serious, Love?" Again he cackled.

Brandishing the now bloodied knife, the Joker walked towards my still form. A shudder ripped down my spine as he traced down my jaw bone with his leather clad fingertips.

"_Such_ a shame." He muttered to himself, his tongue darting out and licking his red painted lips. A numbness crept up my body as I readied myself for death. Slowly he leaned in and kissed my right cheek.

Keeping his face close to mine he whispered, "Until next time."

Straightening up he motioned for his henchmen to leave; following behind them.

A few seconds after the retreat I glanced over to see an injured Batman standing by the blown out windows, holding his bleeding side. With one pitying glance at me, he jumped out the window into the black night. Thoughts overtook my mind as I stood frozen in the spot the Joker had left me.

_You just spent the last hour, dancing, with the mass murdering clown. _

_**He seemed almost normal though.**_

_So he could fit in with the party. _

_**Why would he dance with me though?**_

_That is a damn good question._

Soon I was left in complete silence. My mind wasn't even producing thoughts.

Minutes later Commissioner Gordon and his team entered the hall; only to see me standing there, frozen in shock, in a bloodied gown with dead partygoers surrounding me.

Looking in the Commissioner's eyes I saw a horrified look take over.

"I-it was the J-j-jo-ker." I stuttered to the stunned police force.

The Commissioner called to one of the other officers, "Call the paramedics!"

Quickly stepping over bodies to get to me, the Commissioner sped his pace up.

He didn't reach me in time though, because everything had gone black.

Before I passed out though, fear encased me as I realized that I had danced with the devil, and lived.


	2. Messages and Warnings

Dance With the Devil Tonight

Title Credit Goes to Breaking Benjamin- Dance With The Devil

Disclaimer: I don't own the Joker or Batman-or the Batman franchise for that matter. I wish I did, but alas I don't. Emily's mine though.

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><p>When I became conscious again, I realized I was in the hospital.<p>

My eyes were still shut, but the blinding lights of the room and of the open blinds letting in the sunshine, were seeping in through them. I could hear the muffled sound of the heart monitor keeping a steady pace.

My mind was fuzzy as I tried to recall what happened to make me end up in a hospital. Slowly I assed my body to make sure nothing was wrong.

Flexing my arms the only thing hurting was the muscles. Without warning the door to my hospital room flew open. I ceased my movements and pretended to still be asleep.

"I know you're awake Dr. Patten."

Hearing Commissioner Gordon's voice, I opened my eyes. Blinking a few times I finally settled on the disheveled appearance of the Commissioner.

"I need you to tell me everything that happened last night." The commanding tone of Gordon held no patience.

"I don't remember what happened." My silent, scratchy reply to Gordon made his eyes narrow at me.

"Well start remembering! You're the only one that can tell us anything!"

With the Commissioner's frantic words I started riffling through my memories, trying to recall the events of last night. Nothing appeared.

"I can't remember!" I shouted; a sob following the statement. Next to me, the heart monitor frantically sped up. Commissioner Gordon took a few steps towards me, stopping at the foot of the hospital bed.

Patting my leg, Gordon softened his facial features.

"Please, try harder." His soft voice pled with me. Shutting my eyes, I tried harder.

"The-the Batman was there!" I finally exclaimed, opening my eyes. Gordon's face held one of happiness, then it fell suddenly.

"No one has seen the Batman since the Harvey Dent situation." His defeated statement made me drop my eyes.

"Well he was there. He fought with the Joker." I determinedly replied, eyes still locked on the blanket covering my legs. Gordon sighed, then patted my leg once more.

"Try and remember more Emily; while you're here." Commissioner Gordon asked while walking back towards the door.

After he left I closed my eyes once more, hoping to get some more sleep.

* * *

><p>When I woke up suddenly it was dark outside. My dream had startled me awake; the Joker's face entered my mind as I remembered what I had dreamt about.<p>

The Joker had come at me with a knife, and people were lying dead all around me.

A nagging voice in my mind told me that that had happened at the party.

A yawn escaped my mouth as I turned to my right, facing the wall, hoping to get back to sleep; maybe to dream some more of the events of last night.

My eyes started to slide shut when I noticed something. Sitting next to me on the nightstand, was a single black rose, in a vase. Slowly I reached over and touched the petals.

They felt like silk. Confusion entered my mind.

_Who would give me a rose? A rare and expensive one at that._

"A woman brought that in a little while ago." A deep gravely voice interrupted my thoughts.

My head snapped to the corner of the room. Standing there was the caped crusader himself, Batman. Abruptly I sat up.

"What are you doing here?" Panic entered my voice as I looked at him.

"The card says that it's from 'J'. I'm assuming that that is the Joker." Batman went on, ignoring my question.

The panic made it's way onto my facial features as I stared agape at Batman, then at the rose. Before I could ask anything, Batman took a step forward and threw the card on the bed. Swiftly I reached out and snatched the card.

**Love, I hope you're feeling better. Can't wait to see you again. J.**

A small cry left my lips as I read the card. Fearfully I looked up at Batman again.

"Why me?" I cried to him. Batman took another step towards me and patted my leg like Commissioner Gordon did earlier. Suppressing a sob, I dropped my face into my hands. Minutes later I looked back up; Batman had moved to the window. Looking at me, his mouth set into a frown.

"Be careful. The Joker didn't kill you for a reason. He wants you to be apart of his game, whether you want to be or not. That rose is his invitation to you." Batman warned as he opened the window and hoped out it, into the night.

Staring at the window my eyes slowly shut again; the panic making me fall asleep quickly.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I was released from the hospital. Commissioner Gordon was the one to collect me. As we walked out to his car he looked over at me, a frown etched on his face, not unlike the one that was on Batman's the previous night.<p>

"You look terrible Emily."

"I know." I stated back to him. He observed me once more; in borrowed scrubs, with brunette hair hanging dead on my shoulders, and dark rings under my eyes; I'm sure I looked like death to him. When we pulled out of the parking lot, instead of heading to the suburbs, we headed into town. I turned my head to him and gave a confused look.

"Were heading to the station so I can get your account of the other night."

When we entered the station, cops looked at me sadly. Some of their faces looked familiar.

"Would you like some coffee Emily?" Gordon asked as he led me to his office.

"No thank you." As we entered his office I sat in the seat in front of the desk. Gordon sat down in his chair and took out a notebook and a pen. Giving me a smile, he gestured for me to begin.

"In the middle of the party a man walked up to me in a black and white mask….."

* * *

><p>When the interview ended I had told Gordon everything I remembered. Occasionally he would interrupt and ask questions.<p>

"I'll drive you home, okay?" Gordon asked as he stood up. With a slight nod to him we left.

When we got to my house Gordon turned to me.

"If you remember anything else, call me." He said while handing me his card.

"Thank you Commissioner, I will." Slowly I walked up my walkway to the door and took out the spare key above the door. I took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

Pushing it open, I feared for the worst. Batman's warning echoed in my mind.

Stepping through the threshold everything looked normal, calm; nothing was out of place. Releasing the breath I was holding I closed the door and made my way further into the house.

As I got closer to the living room a stench wafted towards me. My nose crinkled in disgust as I tried to distinguish what it was.

When I reached the swinging door I pushed it open, making the smell much stronger. Looking up, a gasp escaped my mouth.

Spread across my living room wall, was a message; painted in blood. Underneath lay the mutilated body of my cat.

**Soon Love, we will be reunited.**

My stomach lurched at the site, causing me to bend over slightly. Holding one hand to my mouth and one hand to my stomach I started to cry. Taking in the carnage I fell to my knees and vomited on the borrowed scrubs and carpet. Shuddering and sobbing, I lifted my head.

Looking at the bloody message in front of me once again, I realized a very important thing; Batman was right. I am now involved with the Joker's deadly game, whether I wanted to be or not.


	3. Examinations and Kidnappings

Dance With the Devil Tonight

Title Credit Goes to Breaking Benjamin- Dance With The Devil

Disclaimer: I don't own the Joker or Batman-or the Batman franchise for that matter. I wish I did, but alas I don't. All original characters are mine though.

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><p>After the shock had worn off, and I had stopped crying, I immediately called Commissioner Gordon.<p>

Within minutes he and his police force had arrived.

I was standing outside, on the front porch when all the cruisers raced up the street to my house, lights and sirens blazing. The fist to stop was Gordon.

He jumped out of his car and with quick strides reached me. With no words exchanged he encased me in a hug. When his arms wrapped around me the tears started again, this time more frantically.

By the time I had stopped crying, they had already taken pictures and gotten evidence; a cleaning crew had showed up sometime during the period of time I was crying, and were taking care of the bloody mess inside. After a few hours Gordon left, not without a fight first.

"Are you sure you will be okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, I'll just lock all my doors, and windows." Finally Gordon left and I headed inside.

Like I told Gordon, I locked all the doors and windows, and headed up to my room. That night I didn't sleep, for fear that the Joker would come back to my house.

When dawn approached, I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, and I fell asleep. I didn't sleep for long though, because I had a nightmare. That is how I spent my nights from then on, in nightmares.

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><p>As the days wore on, I received more black roses. Sometimes only one or sometimes multiple, in a bouquet. No cards attached to them, not since the one I received in the hospital. Soon my newly cleaned living room was filled to the brim with roses.<p>

Fear was always present when the door bell rang, but the fear overtook my senses when no one was at the door, the flowers having been left somewhere on the porch.

At night I always felt as if someone was watching me; but I always played it off as being paranoid about the message from the Joker.

The only place I felt safe was at work; being a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum.

"Dr. Patten?" I swiftly turned my heard towards the person calling my name.

"Yes?" The woman looked timid; an intern.

"Dr. Tarver wanted me to give you these…" The woman said, unsure of herself, while handing me a handful of files. With a calming smile I took them from her.

"Thank you." Emitting more confidence, the woman walked away.

Opening the file on top I noticed that it was an analysis on the Joker. Panicking, I close it and put it underneath the stack. Flipping through more of them I notice that they were files on some of the patients in the asylum.

With interest I walked back to my cramped office while reading them. Finally, after browsing through all the rest, I came back to the Joker's file. Closing my eyes I opened the file.

A shudder ran down my body, and I opened my eyes. A yellow sticky note was stuck to the inside cover of the offending file.

**Emily, take a look at these files, see if you can determine what they have and get back to me. Paul**_. _

With a groan, I set to find out what all eleven patients disorders were.

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><p>Near the end of my shift at 5 pm, I walked to Dr. Tarver's office. When I got to his open door I saw him sitting at his desk talking on the phone.<p>

"…Yes sir. I will have those papers to you early in the morning….. Thank you, have a nice night…. You too, goodbye." Setting down his phone he looked up.

"Hello Emily. Come in." Taking a few steps into the room I sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

"Hey Paul, I have those evaluations you wanted." A smile lit up his face as I set up the files in piles, determined on my findings.

"First off, I wanted to know why you chose me to do this." The smile never left Paul's face as he explained, "Truthfully you are very intelligent, and know how to pick out mental disorders. I wouldn't have picked anyone else to do this." My cheeks tinted pink with his compliment.

"Thank you. But I'm sure you know, some of these patients aren't with us anymore." Mainly I was talking about the Joker. Slowly the smile fell off of his face.

"Unfortunately yes I do, but their files needed to be placed in their correct categories." Suddenly his smile reemerged.

"So tell me, what were your findings. Sitting up straight and clearing my throat, I motioned with my hand to the three sitting in the middle.

"These three all show qualities of Bipolar Disorder." Dr. Tarver nodded his head and reached for the case files; writing Bipolar Disorder on a sticky note. When he looked up I motioned to the next five on the left. "These all show signs of Catatonic Schizophrenia." That's when I paused to narrow my eyes at him.

"These five were easy to categorize, how come no one else knew what was wrong with them?" Paul scratched the back of his head and looked sheepishly at me.

"Well… no one really had any time to look at these patients… or any of these to be honest." Anger welled up in me at his 'announcement', but I didn't say anything to him.

He reached out and grabbed these files too, and wrote Catatonic Schizophrenia on another sticky note. Finally I motioned to the final pile, containing two files.

"These all have Trichotillomania." Once more Paul took the files and wrote Trichotillomania on a sticky note. He then looked back up at me.

"And that one?" With a sigh I let my eyes drop to the single folder, set further away from the others, that Paul motioned to.

"That file contains the Joker's information." Pausing once more I collected my thoughts before telling my finding's on the mental status of the clown.

"The Joker is clearly responsible for his own actions. He forms complex chains of logic, that even though warped, are still sound. He acts and reacts to events with complete control, never wavering in his actions. He doesn't respond to voices or influences in his head, or at least he hasn't mentioned any. He is totally in control." I paused with that and brought my eyes up to meet with Paul's.

"I don't know what's wrong with him."

* * *

><p>After I told Dr. Tarver my findings he let me leave. All the way home I thought of the look on his face when I couldn't determine what was mentally wrong with the Joker. Pulling into my drive way a thought popped into my mind.<p>

_What if the Joker is sane and nothing is wrong with him? _

For a long while I sat in the car and mulled over that terrifying thought. Finally I realized I was exhausted and decided to go inside. Suppressing a yawn I got out of the car and headed up to my darkened front porch. A shiver traveled up my spine, making me paranoid that someone was watching me; slowly I looked behind me to see if anyone was there. Nothing. With a annoyed breath I unlocked the door and walked in. Before I could reach the light switch, someone covered my mouth with a cloth. I tried screaming but it was muffled. Quickly, everything started fading and my legs gave out, but before I hit the floor, I blacked out.

* * *

><p>When I started to come to I noticed three things, 1.) I was laying on concrete, 2.) It was cold, wherever I was, 3.) And it smelt very musty in the room.<p>

My eyes where heavy and wouldn't open, and I had the beginnings of a headache and I felt dizzy and tired. Minutes passed with no sounds around me. My mind felt fuzzy, like it was filled with fog; I couldn't remember anything that had happened, or why I was here and not at home.

Slowly, as the fog started to fade from my mind an unmistakable laughing echoed throughout the room, soon followed by four words that made my eyes dart open, focus on the laugher, and make a scream erupt from my throat.

"Hel_lo _Love,_ miss _me?"

* * *

><p>AN: I know this is early, but tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I have a party to go to, so here you go :D

**Bipolar Disorder:** a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or more depressive episodes.

**Catatonic Schizophrenia:** a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor.

**Trichotillomania:** the compulsive urge to pull out one's own hair leading to noticeable hair loss, distress, and social or functional impairment. It is often chronic and difficult to treat.


End file.
